YA Novels Involving Teens from Different Cultures

The School Library Journal Virtual Book Fair's theme, Knocking Down Doors, inspired me to focus this month's blog on books about teens from different cultures.  I recently read the keynote speaker, Samira Ahmed's book Love, Hate, and Other Filters, which introduces Indian American Muslim teen Maya Aziz, who struggles to follow her dreams, yet please her traditional Indian parents. Somewhere Only We Know by Maureen Goo involves a Korean American K-Pop star, who is on the verge of stardom, but longs for the freedom of anonymity.  Don't Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno is about a Cuban American teen who is dealing with a presumed curse on her family warning her to stay away from the sea.  Finally, Love from A to Z by S. K. Ali focuses on a hijabi teen who is suspended from school for standing up to an Islamophobic teacher.

In Love, Hate and Other Filters Maya Aziz feels the conflict that many bi cultural teens feel when attending American schools.  She wants to fit in and follow her own dreams, without alienating her traditional Indian parents.  She is a budding filmmaker, who unbeknownst to her overprotective parents, has been accepted by NYU film school.  They want her to attend a school in Chicago, so she can be close to home.  She is secretly crushing on Phil, the white high school quarterback, who is beginning to respond to her interest, whereas her parents want her to date Kareem, a charming Desi boy who is suitable marriage material. Maya finally gets up the courage to tell her parents about NYU, when a terrorist attack in nearby Springfield derails her plans. The presumed terrorist is also an Aziz and Maya's family experiences hate crimes motivated by the connection.  Her parents' acceptance of her decision to go to NYU is rescinded, and they now want her to live at home and go to community college.  Maya must decide whether or not to take a stand. A brief account of a looming terrorist attack, preceding each chapter of Maya's story, creates tension about what is to come.

Somewhere Only We Know introduces Lucky, a Korean American K-Pop singer who is kept on a tight leash by her handlers. Longing for a hamburger, she plays hooky after a big concert in Hong Kong, but gets lost and is rescued by Jack, an aspiring photographer.  At first he doesn't know who she is, and they begin a flirtation as they wander through the streets of Hong Kong. When he inadvertently discovers her identity, he realizes he could sell photographs of their time together to a tabloid magazine and launch his career.  Alternating between their first-person perspectives, the story reveals two teens who are struggling with expectations that are placed on them.  Jack's parents want him to study banking and her handlers expect her to be the next big star who must protect her image at all costs.  This re-imagining of Roman Holiday is filled with witty banter and romance, and I loved reading about the Korean K-pop development system that grooms talented teens to become K-pop stars.

Don't Date Rosa Santos involves a Cuban American girl who lives in a coastal town in Southern Florida and lost her father and grandfather to the sea.  Abandoned by her mother, she lives with her abuela and is cautioned to stay away from anything involving the sea, because her family is cursed. Then Rosa falls for Alex, a sailor who works at the docks.  Hoping to study abroad in Havana to explore her family roots, she is reluctant to date him because she is leaving. He, too, has plans to go on an extended voyage at sea.  Yet the more time she spends with him, the more she wonders if he is part of her destiny.  When her mother returns to town and agrees to paint a mural for the Latin Festival, Rosa wonder if she will stick around or leave her and abuela again to fend for themselves.  The Latinx culture informs the action of the story with traditions, Cuban Spanish language and complex family relationships.  Rosa is a compelling character who readers will root for as she navigates the turbulent landscape that is her life.

Love from A to Z begins with Zayneb Malik being suspended from school over an incident with an Islamophobic teacher.  Her parents allow her to go to her aunt's home in Doha, Qatar a week before their spring break trip was to begin.  On the plane she meets Adam Chen, who is returning home from university in London. He happens to notice that, like him, she keeps a journal of marvels and oddities, inspired by a book they both read.  Adam is an artist and after a recent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, which killed his mother, he has decided to drop out of school and focus on his art.  Zayneb is passionate and outspoken, constantly railing against people who are prejudiced against her Muslim faith.  Adam is calm and quiet, drawing strength from his religion as he struggles to share his news with his fragile father and sister. Although Adam and Zayneb's relationship is fraught with obstacles, they recognize a need to be together.  The story is told in alternating journal entries of marvels and oddities.  Racism, the effects of war, Muslim cultural identity and prejudice are explored in great detail, and a note from the author adds to the readers' understanding of the struggles of Muslim youth in our society.